Monday, May 28, 2007

Weekend to Remember

Got back real late from Pismo Beach on Friday night, so naturally stayed up a bit later getting settled.

Went in Lake Whatcom for the first time on Saturday morning and boy o boy was it cold, I have no idea what the temp was, but think it will be close to what we get in Lake Coeur d'Alene. I wore my new swim booties and it certainly did help and once I got moving and generating some heat it wasn't too bad. I'm sure the guys fishing were looking at me a bit funny, but I got training to do. The condos out at the end of the lake tore down the gazebo but I still swam two loops to the gazebo and back. Actually, you can see the old railroad bed at the bottom of the lake and that is where I turn around, so don't need the gazebo anymore, but it was nice to site off of.

Saturday afternoon had me riding the Ski to Sea mountain bike course as it is only open to pre ride the one day from noon to 4:00 and we got to Hovander Park about 3:30 so we had to hurry, at least to get past the one section that goes over private land. Very nice flat course, with three bridges that you have to get off and push, carry, pull, or whatever to get your bike under and over the obstacles. Once past the bridges the course goes down to the beach and is a combination of river sized rocks and sandy sections, not a spot to ride, so I carried a bit and pushed through the sandy sections. Back on dry land, we weave our way through the waterfront area to Zuanich Park to tag our kayaker, but today was just a test run. I get to do the real thing on Sunday.

I was planning a run Sunday morning, but slept in and took it easy for a little while. I left about 11 am to meet John and carpool out to Hovander for the biker meeting at noon. Got my bike inspected and got the low down on the ins and outs and the rules of the race.

Then I waited... and waited... and waited...

While I was waiting, I was able to hold John's bike as his canoe team came in pretty early and he was off, I held another acquaintances bike for him and as I was waiting around a bit more I saw a couple co-workers doing the mountain bike course for their teams. Jody was going to hold my bike as I heard my number called (that meant Nancy and Wendy were already under the Fairhaven bridge WOW!).

As I got my bike up to the loading area, Jody was going to hold it but once I was on the beach I heard his number called, so per our agreement he was going to leave it where I set it down.

Before I knew it Nancy and Wendy were in sight, I went to the beaching area and they had another team in the way but they came right in and I stepped into my mid calf deep and grabbed the boat and pulled it up onto the beach as Wendy and Nancy got out. Per our pre race talk I started running with the boat and they were going to carry the back, but they just got finished rowing for two hours and I was running a bit fast, so we had a couple missteps and drops, and Nancy actually fell right at the end, but I was under the exchange banner so I was off and running to my bike.

Swiped the timing chip and off on the course. The first part is on grass through Hovander park to get up onto the river dike which is part gravel and part packed dirt, with overgrown side grasses and bushes the whole way. I had passed a couple and was about to pass another but the first bridge came up so is kinda first in and no passing while under, once under and back up on the dike you have to lift your bike over a cable blocking access to the dike, not fun with a 35-40 pound monster steel mountain bike.

Back underway I quickly made a couple more passes and then there were a few diversions to avoid some sink holes and then the next bridge, this bridge has huge rocks underneath so I carried my bike over my head this time, ug!

Passed a couple more as we transitioned from this bridge to through the private property up onto Marine drive and back towards Bellingham, this road section can be fast, but it felt like I had a flat, it didn't look like a flat, so I kept on slugging away, man it was hard. I kept this up for about 5 minutes (maybe one mile) and had most all those people I passed come up and pass me. I started to hear some noises so I stopped and as it turns out my rear brakes were rubbing and that is tough to do with cantilever brakes, once side got lodged under (over?) the rim and up next to the spokes. It took a couple really tough tugs and pulls but I got it loose and was off and underway again.

I passed about 5 or 6 people on the road section, but we were only on the road for a bit and then we had to carry our bikes over a road barrier and back under a bridge, this bridge has a 14 inch pipe you need to lift your bike over and then onto a short (100 yard) section of gravel path down to the beach section and I was actually able to pass a few on this section as well.

Back on solid ground I was off and into the parking lot and pulled out the timing chip to hand to my kayaker and man was it fun!

Not counting the time I was stopped I don't think anyone passed me and I counted a total of about 10 that I passed. Looking at the results online, our team was 212th out of 425+ teams, we were 12th out of 49 in our division (recreational mixed - rec and must have 4 women). I was 4th out of those 49 mountain bikers, not bad for my first experience with the Ski to Sea!

What a weekend to remember!

Oh yeah, I got a 90 mile 5:30 ride today with John, Mike and Scott! Great ride as we rode Chuckanut Drive south to Samish Island and then headed towards Laconner to turn before we go there to head east and north up Colony road towards Lake Samish and then back into town as we all split up and headed home.

Pismo Beach pics

I put a few of my pictures from my business trip to Pismo Beach here

Monday, May 21, 2007

Hello from Pismo!

I'm in Pismo Beach this week for work. I hope to get in some workouts, mostly swimming and running as there is no bike available.

I did get in a good bike ride with my friend Pat on Sunday, we did the loop out to Birch Bay, Semiahmoo, Blaine and into Lynden. It was tough as I was still feeling tired from my training camp, it was a tough 79 miles in just over 5 hours.

No pool here at the hotel in Pismo, so I drove up to San Luis Obispo and swam in an outdoor pool, pretty neat. I'll post some pictures of the beach and the Hearst castle soon.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Ironman Training Camp Day 4 and Wrap up

Today is the day, the day to see the entire bike course all 112 miles of it. I got up about 6:30 and started loading up some stuff into my car as I was planning on checking out and driving home after the long bike ride. Took a little while because I brought way to much stuff, mostly all my wet riding gear that went unused as the weather was great for the entire camp. Left the gear I was going to ride in inside the room and went to breakfast. (its still worth what we pay for it)

Got underway about 8:20 or so to all drive to CDA this time (no riding the 40 minute ride there to start a 112 mile ride).

Everyone got their bikes out and shoes on and were just generally getting ready to go. We took a group photo and set out just after 9 am (9:08 to be exact).

What a beautiful morning, not too much wind but it was warm and getting hotter. We were pretty close on the first section through a residential area, but once on the centenial trail out to the first turn around it started getting thinned out. Made the turn around and started back into town. Cal and Luke (our coaches) were great they were out chalking the course and setting up aid stations for us throughout the day.

Once back in town we made a little detour to the official route because Government Way is so busy, we turned up 15th street and made out way north. What a great decision, very little traffic and only a couple of lights and stop signs.

Now out into Hayden Lake area we started the climbs again. I was riding close to a few fast riders and would see them up the hill ahead of me and then once I'd make it to the top it seemed like they were gone, but I'd see them on the next climb (way up in front of me).


I skipped a couple aid stations and stopped 4 times during the ride. I passed some faster riders at an aid station and they'd get me after a while.

After completing the loop once and back along the lake I made a facility stop and then passed the faster riders taking a break at the higgins point turn around, they caught me at the next aid station where our special needs bags were. I switched out my bottles for the couple I had in my special needs bag and took a little break. I think these breaks will help in the race too as I found myself a little refreshed and could feel my toes once again. After about 4-5 minutes I was back on course and headed up 15th street back into the county.

The hills hurt a little more the second loop but I was still going up them at an ok pace, until my toes started to hurt too much, I'd really feel it on the climb and then wouldn't really want to pedal on the downside, so I lost some time there. I'm going to do my next long ride in my other bike shoes and see if it makes a difference.

Finally made it out the where Lukes aid station was and took another nice 5 minute rest, refueled, re-filled my water, and had some good conversation. Both Cal and Luke are great!

Luke was at the corner where we go on an out and back section about 15-17 miles long and my feet were fine for the first 10-12 miles, but really started up again coming back up the hill to the aid station so I stopped again for another 5 minute stop and some coke.

Back underway felt great as I saw 93 miles at the aid station so it meant I had less than 20 to go and it is south which is always downhill right? My feet/toes did ok all the way back into town. I had to make one stop though as I stopped when my GPS hit the 100 mile mark. My first century so I had to take a picture, what a great feeling.


Rolled into the parking lot and was off the bike and had my running shoes on pretty quick. Boy o boy was it a nice feeling to be in the running shoes and not the cycling shoes anymore and I think I ran a bit too quick for my tranistion run, but I'm not complaining.

Total bike ride was 106.4 miles and 6:18:25 moving time (does not include the muliple rests).
Extrapolatingg out I think I can do the 112 in 6:30 moving time (with my race wheels) and add 15-20 minutes of breaks so am thinking a 6:45-7:00 IRONMAN bike ride is in the cards for me.
I was extremly salty looking but felt great, so think my nutrition was good.

I jumped in the lake and wipped off most the salt and changed and was in the car for the next six hours, found the perfect exit for coming west, exit 221 in Ritzville has a Shell, McDonalds and a Starbucks so I stopped at all three. Made one more stop along the way and got home right at 11 pm, what a great long day!

I must say that Cal ran an awesome camp, excellent training and on course support, marking the route making sure no one got too lost. It really was great, I hope to do it again someday.

If anyone has a chance to go to a Critical Speed training camp (he puts on a few a year) do it, you will get good training, great support and meet some awesome people. http://www.criticalspeed.com/

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Ironman Training Camp Day 3

Another day to sleep in was nice. We didn't meet this morning until 9 am to carpool up to Liberty Lake. We met at the swimming pool to get into even bigger cars because of limited parking. We went to someones house on the lake and all got ready and wet suited up and pretty soon we were all wet. It wasn't too cold but it was a little choppy due to some wind. We followed the shore line and at the south end turned and followed some bouys towards a little county park where we all stopped and rested a bit. It took me about 29 minutes to get there and the wind and chop was much worse on the way back as we were going into it now. I cut off a big corner and it even with that it took longer to get back. A nice good hour and 5 minute swim. I was happy to get back in some open water as it is different than in a pool.

We took a short rest and not a lot of lunch because we were meeting to do a long run on the course. We all met out front to carpool down to the transistion area and then we set off.


I'm glad we had a guide because the run does wind itself through a residential area in a wierd way. We actually run west towards Spokane first and then back, this little out and back took about 16 minutes and is going to be great in the event because I get to run around the city park so often and the beach was great I think the kids will have lots to do during the day.



Back in downtown CDA we head out through the residential area and finally onto the lakeshore drive that winds its way around Lake Coeur d'Alene. We had our first aid station and refilled my water and got a baggie of gummy worms to take along on the run. It was hot and I drank plenty of water and took my electrolyte tablets on the half hour and was feeling fine, so fine I think it may of bugged some other runners as my heart rate alarm kept going off as I wanted to run abit faster. Getting the alarm helps to keep me at the correct training level so I would back off until the alarm stopped. We hit a second aid station along the lake just about where we did the mile repeats and I ran past because I was still good on fluids.


I hit the turn around and back to the aid station along the lake and refueled and was off into the heat again. Back past the other aid station they had setup for us and through the residential area into the city park where the transistion will be was exactly 13.1 miles.

I skipped the first out and back and just turned around and ran back to the first aid station and back to downtown for a 17.75 mile run on a very hot day. I think this will help come race day.


I soaked in the lake for a bit and then we all walked to a nice italian restaurant and then back for the evening presentation from the medical director of the race (he has also been the med director for other IRONMAN races around the world, works for the Seahawks and has done 9 IRONMAN races himself)


WHAT A GREAT PRESENTATION!


He talked about what to watch out for and that we actually drink too much on the course and to not take anti inflamitories on race day as well as how much and when we should be drinking. He also said it would be better to finish a little dehydrated rather than having too much water in your system.


Tomorrow is a big day, we ride the full course and it is supposed to be hot!

Monday, May 14, 2007

Ironman Training Camp Day 2

We were able to sleep in as our first activity today was starting at 9 am, so I slept in till 7 and got dressed and me and my roomie went down for our free breakfast. I skipped the sausage this time and think it was a good idea, too greasy for exercise.

After breakfast and getting cycling gear on we all met out front at 8:45 for our 9 am departure, we rode the 10 miles from the hotel (in Post Falls) to Coeur d'Alene which took about 42 minutes or so, this whole ride was supposed to be a recovery ride from yesterdays big day.

We stopped at City Park in downtown Coeur d'Alene and I must say this whole place is very nice, it is going to be a great event.

We set out on an easy group ride of the whole bike course, all 56 miles of it.

The first section is an out and back along Lake Coeur d'Alene and the views and road are great, not a lot of climbing through here, but there were a couple smallish ups and downs. This road is a dead end and we go to the end, the road is closed during the event. Our support vehicle met us at the turn around and we all ate and drank some snacks and such.

Our guide got a flat on this section back to CDA, he got in the support vehicle while we rode into CDA and once in CDA we made a quick stop at the bike store to fix our guides flat.

We rode north from here towards Hayden Lake through some beautiful neighborhoods and some busy shopping areas, but once past downtown Hayden lake we made our way around the north west side of Hayden Lake itself and this is where it started to get a little hilly, nothing to bad at all, but lots of hills, more rollers as once you got to the top it was a quick down and then it seemed like on another climb. We made another support stop and then more rollers.

The route works itself around to a turn around near highway 95 and then back the way we came to a point, they throw one extra loop in to get some more hills (or miles probably) and instead of riding past Hayden Lake, we head more directly into the city of Hayden Lake.

We made it back to City Park in downtown CDA and then back on the centennial trail back to the hotel. The one loop was 54.84 miles (we did skip one little out and back along Northwest Road which is very very busy and will be closed on race day) in 3:30, my watch measured about 882 feet of climbing on the one loop and we do it twice in the race, so not too bad at all.

This ride was supposed to be done and back at the hotel by about 1, we got back at 3, our hill repeats were supposed to start at 3. Everyone is eating now and I made myself a sandwich in the room and will go see what we are doing next...

Sunday, May 13, 2007

IMCDA Training Camp Day 1 - Swim Bike Run

Got up early to meet in the lobby to carpool to the pool. The pool was in a sports club and had lots of chlorine, but was still water, we split into 4 lanes and then 5. We did a nice little ladder set with some all out 25's in between. Took about an hour and was a good workout. We cut it a little short (not the expected hour and half) to get back to the hotel before the breakfast was over. Got back in time and had the free breakfast (Eggs, Hash browns, Sausage and muffin) very nice for the price.

Just enough time to settle down and change into bike gear and we met in the lobby at 10 for a 2 to 3 hour ride with some hill repeats. We were following part of the old IMCDA bike course with some nice diversions to get in some extra hills. We just set on out and the hills decided the order of the day, some faster riders went right up while others took their time. I was in the middle and got this nice shot on the first up/down at the top before heading down.



We continued west towards Washington State and we made it from one state to the next (I think its neat at least) and did a little lollipop and headed back the way we came, the old IMCDA course would come back along the Centennial Trail, but we went right back up the hills including the 500 foot 1.3 mile climb. This time the field was much more spread out.

Still heading back towards the hotel we went right past it and all the way up and down into Coeur d'Alene turning around on highway 95 overlooking the CDA resort (pictured).



Back up and on the way back to the hotel seemed quicker, but another camper and I were the final riders who did both hill repeats and all the way into CDA along the hilly route. Some took the centennial trail and went around the hills.

Finally back at the hotel with these totals: 42.07 miles 2:50 and about 2227 feet of climbing.

A little downtime and then we will meet at 2:30 to carpool to Coeur d'Alene for 8 to 10 1 mile running repeats.

After driving out to Coeur d'Alene we followed Coach Cal through town along the run course as it winded its way through some pretty nice neighborhoods. Didn't look too bad, I drove with my roommate and he has done IMCDA in the past and was giving some pretty good tips and such, we got out of town to the turn around point to do some mile repeats, we started at the turn around which is about half way up a hill. The idea was to run 1 mile at your stand alone half marathon pace and then rest 2 minutes. We ran down to the bottom and along the trail to the 1 mile mark and it was nice to run kinda fast down hill, waited around and then was off back up to the turn around, it was tougher, but nothing like any of the trail runs I run on. rest and repeat or is it rinse and repeat. Grabbed some gel and water at the top where Cal had setup and aid station.

I did 4 loops for about 8 miles, very nice. As we drove back through Coeur d'Alene and on the freeway we got caught in a rainstorm, but were in the car so not bad at all, no rain during any of our training.

Off to dinner and evening presentation and some sleep.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

IMCDA Camp Day 0 - Arrival

I left Bellingham about 9:15 this morning and was such a nerd that I decided to time myself and hit the stop watch, I needed some gas and as it turns out I had enough to get to Bothell and even better the gas station I stopped at was in the same parking lot as the Brooks Outlet store, so I stopped and got some running shorts and a nice lightweight waterproof jacket, very nice.

Back on the road and going up and over Snoqualamie pass was nice and there was a bit of snow in places, none on the road or even on the side of the road, perfect place up on the hills. I had thought about stopping but was making good time and continued right over the top. I was getting hungry though and stopped at the next rest stop (Indian John Hill MP 89) used the facilities and made myself a sandwich and was back on the road.


I was trying to keep up on my hydration and needed to stop soon thereafter, I skipped the next rest stop and made it to the rest stop (Schrag MP 198) with this great view of vast acres of farmland, very nice.


I made it into Spokane to visit Aunt Pam and Uncle Pat about 3:00, but this was the same time that Aunt Pam has a Faith and Light service and potluck so Uncle Pat met me at the church so I could at least say hello to Aunt Pam and then Uncle Pat and I visited and walked around the Gonzaga campus.

I was back on the road about 4:30 as I wanted to get checked in and find out where I was going to get LT tested. Got checked in and still didn't see where Ben had set himself up. I finally found him in a conference room and got my bike a gear down there.

After he poked my finger for some blood and a base LT level, I was up and running, well spinning, the compu-trainer (bicycle trainer that hooks up to a computer and is controlled by the computer) was set at a pretty easy 100 watt level for a warm up, every 4 minutes he upped the wattage and took another poke for some blood, not too bad, but it did get harder and harder and once over the LT threshold, he kept going as I also had a breathing apparatus on to test my VO2 Max level. It got pretty tough, but that's the idea to see how high your body can work.

My LT was (is) a little low (131 HR), but can be trained to up it and now that I know the number I can target my training a bit better to increase the LT. My VO2 max (169) could go up just a bit too, but the coach said it would be better to train to increase the LT.

After a quick shower we all met for some dinner and then a brief meeting to let us know to meet at 7:00 am in the lobby to go swim! We will also get a 2 hour bike and 8-10 mile repeats.

More tomorrow...

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Training Camp details

The itinerary for my upcoming IRONMAN training camp came in the mail yesterday. I sure am looking forward to this, it will be a great chance to ride and preview the course, check my fitness levels and get in some great training as well.

I will drive from Bellingham on Saturday May 12 to Spokane for a visit with Aunt Pam and Uncle Pat before heading onto Post Falls for the first group dinner and to meet everyone. There is a chance I can get my Lactate Threshold tested that night too.

Sunday May 13

  • 7:30am: Coached Swim Session until 9:00 (Maybe Open Water swim in Liberty Lake)
  • 9.45am: Breakfast and Meeting at the Templins
  • 11.00am: 3 hour bike ride on Hilly section of Old Bike Course
  • 2:30pm: Transport to Run Course
  • 3.00pm: Run 90 minutes Mile Repeats 8-10 X 1 mile on run course with2' rest
  • 5.00pm: Group Dinner
  • 7.00pm: Evening presentation - Luke Way - Bike Fitting / Calvin Zaryski Final Physiological Preparation for the Ironman Race

Monday May 14
  • 7.30am: Breakfast at Templins
  • 9:00am: Bike IM Course One Loop
  • 1:00pm: Lunch at Templin's or nearby
  • 2:30pm: Bike another 2 hours Hill Climb Intervals
  • 6:00pm: Group Dinner
  • 7.00pm: Evening activity: Swim Stroke Review: Common Mistakes and Bike maintenance and changing a flat tire!!

Tuesday May 15
  • 7:00am: Breakfast at Templins Hotel
  • 8:15am: Drive to Pool/Lake Swim Session until 10:00
  • 10:30am: Drive Back to Templins Hotel
  • 11:00am: Small Lunch then transport to Run start
  • 1:00am: Long Run on Course (2-3 hours)
  • 4.30pm: Group Dinner
  • 7.30pm: Evening Presentation: Dr. PZ Pearce will outline some of the medical implications when racing the Ironman. As the Medical Director of the Ironman, he will outline some case studies from previous races and present some solutions so you are ready for anything on race day.

Wednesday May 16
  • 7:30am: Breakfast at the Templins Hotel
  • 8:30am: Meet with run gear ready for bike/run transition
  • 9:00am Ride Ironman Bike Course (180km), Transition into 5km run,start of Ironman Run Course.... long day!!
  • 6:00pm: Group Dinner
  • 7:30pm: Evening Seminar - Final preparations before race day and some details of what to do on 'Ironman Day'
  • 8.00pm: Questions and Wrap Up

Depending on how I feel after the long ride/run on Wednesday I may head home after a quick shower to be able to get back to work on Thursday, but as you can see this is quite a bit of training and I may just want to sleep and relax and just get up early Thursday for the drive home.

Keep checking back all week as I hope to have Internet access at the hotel and want to post pictures and my thoughts each day of camp.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

WWU Triathlon V

I was skipping out on my planned 6 hour bike ride to do an event that I have done the past three years. This is a fun event put on by the Western Washington University Cycling team up on the WWU campus.

I woke up early to get some food and ready to go as I was riding my bicycle to the event. After eating a bowl of cereal and reading a bit online I was ready to go. I wore my race gear under my commuting gear and had loaded up my backpack with my transition stuff. The ride up to campus is only about 20 minutes and was a nice warm up, although (as usual) I was very early and it wasn't really a warm up after all.

I found a nice transition area right on the edge of a rack in the middle and setup my bike and towel with my shoes, hat, race belt and more all laid out and ready to go. OK, time to walk around and chit chat and wait. This race has grown and grown, in 2004 when I first ran this event they had 56 finishers. I saw over 120 registered for today's race and lots of my friends and fellow Bellingham Triathlon Club members either do this race or volunteer so I had lots of people to visit and chit chat with. My friend Pat had arrived even before me and had a very nice spot picked out on the closest bike rack to the transition entrance/exit. He has been riding with me on some of these long training rides and it sure has helped. My last 5 hour ride (without Pat) seemed longer and harder.

Swim
It is a pool swim this time of year around here and we swim up and down each of the six lanes ducking under the lane lines each time. This makes for a 300 yard swim that snakes itself from one side of the pool to the other. The swimmers are sent 15 seconds apart and if everyone gave an accurate swim estimate you shouldn't have to pass anyone or get passed yourself. I estimated a 5:45 swim and the two in front of me were missing (more on that later) so I didn't have to worry about passing anyone and as it turns out the second person behind me was about to pass just as I was getting out of the water in 5:29 for a 1:52/100 average. Very happy swimmer here!

T1
As you run out of the pool there is a very pleasant gravel path you must run down to get to the transition area. I choose to skirt the edge and actually run in the bark and bushes. Once past the slivers I was on soft grass and on my knees to put on my socks, yeah I like to wear socks, some go barefoot to save the few seconds, but I go with socks. As I was putting the shoes on with one hand I put on my sunglasses, as I put on the other shoe I slipped on my helmet. I also decided on putting my jacket on due to the cold, this took a few extra seconds but I think it helped on the bike. T1 took 1:55 (from just exiting the water until actually on the bike).

Bike
The bike is off campus but you head right out Bill Macdonald Parkway as it curves around the new campus parking and information building. This road has a brief down and then up section followed by a nice long downhill where you can really pickup some speed, but watch out as the turn at the bottom is like a 120 degree turn, much more than 90 but not so much that you are riding back where you came from. This road heads south and is pretty flat and easy to pick off slower swimmers. One by one I kept on passing. A couple more turns and then its generally back towards campus but rather than taking the main road (which is busy but flat) we go up 14th street and back down to the main road and once again rather than sticking on this main drag we are sent up and over a section just to get back onto the busy road a little farther down the way. This has taken past the north side of campus, so we turn off this main drag up and back towards campus with some more ups in there for good measure. Rather than going the short way back to the transition area we are sent past campus (from the north to the south this time) almost to Fairhaven again. This section is generally downhill but once again we turn onto a road simply to get an up and then a down. This down is not that great as it is one city block down to a left turn. I was riding the brakes most of the way. Finally we are back on the main drag into the transition but this is a 4 block ride up, so not a lot of speed here (for me at least). Once on the crest and pretty flat into transition I slowed to take my feet out of my shoes but leave them on the bike. I set my feet onto the top of the shoes so I don't need to do this in transition. I think I may of slowed too much, but oh well. This 9 mile loop took me 29 minutes flat for an 18.58 MPH.

T2
Since I was already out of my shoes I was able to very quickly get going, had a little trouble putting the bike back on the rack, but once on had my shoes and race belt on in less than 46 seconds.

Run
The run is brutal at the start as once you leave transition it is straight up hill, up to the top of the ridge past all the dorms (where I used to live many years ago, as did my mom). I was going at a nice clip, but my HR kept on going up and up and finally had to walk for a few seconds to catch my breath and slow down. Got going again and turned the corner to run downhill for the next mile or so almost to downtown, but I think they just have us run that far down to have to turn around and run back up. Once at the bottom, we turn and it is another of those straight up deals, but was able to keep it going up and over the top. One more turn and then its the road up into campus and once on campus we run right past Old main, but not red square along the back of some buildings to get onto a trail I used when I lived on the south side of campus. I love trail running and was able to pickup some more speed here. All this back and forth around campus makes for a very nice event I think. Once out of the trail a short section and turn along a busy road for 1 block and then it is a straight shot to the finish, up hill finish that is. I was VERY happy with my (listed) 3.5 mile run in 22:49 or 6:31 per mile.

Overall was a little bummed that I missed the one hour mark. but not too bummed as I only missed it by 1 second. Yeah 1:00:01 total time. The official time was listed as 59:31, remember those two swimmers ahead of me who didn't make it, I think I got a 30 second head start, but I'm going off my time splits from my watch and am VERY happy with my 1 hour time, although if I didn't put on the jacket, or slow down as much to get my feet out of my cycling shoes, or... Yeah I hope I can break 1 hour next year, something to shoot for.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

April Update

April showers came and went, but I think I left a mark too, or at least my bike seat did. I'm getting out on the bike more and more. Last Sunday I had a 5 hour 15 minute ride and I must say I'm pretty sick of gels. I'm going to find some 'solid' food to have on the bike and try to leave the gels for the run. When I did the Seattle Marathon and the Chukcanut 50K I remember not wanting anymore gels.

I read an article last week in Triathlete magazine about starting the bike in a caloric deficit (due to the 2.4 mile swim) and then the 6 plus hour bike ride will burn about 5000-6000 calories and then the marathon will burn another 3500-4500. So I need to eat on the bike and the run or else I won't be able to finish. The human body can absorb or process about 350-400 calories an hour (some more, some less) so that is what I am planning to eat per hour on the bike and run. These training sessions are not just for fun, but I am also dialing in my nutrition as that is a very important part of a successful IRONMAN.

My April totals:


Weights
3:57:40

Swim
11:04:54
17.19 miles

Bike
29:39:16
467.92 miles

Run
14:16:27
96.75 miles